Hello:

I am a 23 year old Canadian who is currently living and working in the UK.  I have been here for 6 months and have not found the type of job that I would ideally want and personally have not enjoyed English culture (or the weather!) as much as I would have hoped.  I have a bachelors degree in business with a specialty in marketing.  My work experience is primarily in the service sector including 3+ years in the financial services sector.  I have plenty of volunteer experience including coordinating and planning 20+ events for university students. 

About a month ago I visited Spain for 3 weeks and voluntarily participated for a week-long program called VaughanTown where native English speakers converse with native Spaniards to help them improve their spoken English.  The visit/holiday was a pure breath of fresh air and I loved absolutely everything about Spain.  I didn’t want to leave but sadly I had to leave the sun and return to the clouds of Manchester.

I am very interested in acquiring a job where I get to work with people in one way or another.  I would ideally like to work in event management, health & fitness, sport (massive football fan) or language/culture.  I desire a job that will develop me professionally and as an individual.  I would love to teach English as well and have the opportunity to learn Spanish as I am already bilingual in French and English.  A third language would be wonderful!  I am looking work that will last at least one year.

The one problem that I face is that I am a non-EU citizen.  I have a 5 year Ancestry Work Visa for the UK (because my dad is English born and holds a UK passport) and as far as I know, this does not allow me to work in Spain without a work permit/visa. 

If there are any recruiters that can send me a job posting or if anyone knows of some good job sites that someone in my position may find useful, please suggest away!  I am open to any type of advice.  😊

Hey,

You can qualify for a UK passport because of your father. Check with the UK government about that. Once you have that then you’re set.

I have called Home Office in UK because I was going through my passport application and realised that I need someone to countersign the application.  The person has to be a non-relative and have known me for at least two years (etc etc).  Anyways, I don’t think anyone that I know can do this for me.  Do you know another way that I may be able to acquire a UK passport?

I have been told by UK Nationality & Citizenship that I am not eligible to get my British citizenship.  My parents split when I was two years old and never were married so the fact that they were just common law and not legally tied means that I cannot get a UK passport without staying in the UK for 5 years and more.  So I would definitely need to find a job where the employer offers me a contract so that I can apply for a work permit. 

I have a few questions though: 

1) If I was offered a job in Spain by an employer, would I have to go through the work permit process myself? 

2) When one hears someone say an employer sponsored my work permit, does this mean that they paid for the employee’s work permit?  Or does it mean that they are backing that person’s status in the country almost as a guarantor?  Or both? 

3) Is the only key difference between a work permit and a work visa that the former you obtain while you are in Spain and the latter you must acquire while you are in your home country? 

4) Is it hard for a non-EU national to get a job if they are not already living in Spain?

I don’t know if you can answer all of these but maybe you can answer a few.  Cheers!

Gareth

Hi Gareth,
Actually we’ve tried very hard to answer those questions already. Check out the working in Spain page, then the work visas page. The info there should answer all four questions.

Salud!

Good Evening,

I saw your ad on the internet about you having plans to move to Spain and looking for a job.
What exactly are you looking for. Are you interested in starting your own company or want to work for others.
Or maybe even a franchise.
Let me know, I might have something for you. My company is expanding so you never know.

Warm greeting from the sunny south of Spain

Erik De Wit